Sussex Uni in top 20 in the Indy guide

For the second year in a row, the University of Sussex has been ranked as one of the UK’s top twenty universities by the Independent newspaper’s Complete University Guide.

Published on 18 April, the 2011-2012 guide to UK universities placed the Sussex at number 19 overall.

Universities are ranked across nine categories, including entry requirements, student satisfaction, quality of research and graduate prospects.

Sussex’s student satisfaction score places the university in the top 10 nationally for this category. Sussex has also climbed the subject tables: 12 of its subjects are ranked in the top ten nationally, compared to eight of its subjects in 2010-11.Subjects which have made it into the top ten include American studies (3rd in the country), History of Art & Architecture (6th place), Anatomy and Physiology (7th) and German and Italian (7th and 8th respectively).

Physics and Astronomy has climbed eleven places, now ranked as 9th best nationally compared to 20th in the guide published in 2010.

Several subjects have made it into the top 20, including English, Spanish, History, Chemistry and Music, while Law, French and Economics were among subjects ranked in the top 25 nationally.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Farthing said: “These results demonstrate Sussex’s continuing strong position in challenging times. Our students benefit from excellent teaching, as shown by the high number of subjects ranked in the top twenty, and I am delighted to see that we have risen to joint third place for student satisfaction.”

The league table ranks the university above other renowned universities such as Sheffield, Manchester, UEA and Royal Holloway.